Hillary defends link with Murdoch

[killerbush]

Sen. Hillary Clinton yesterday defended the fact that Rupert Murdoch will he hosting a fundraiser for her. She said that Mr. Murdoch is a constituent of hers and by holding this fundraiser, he thinks I'm doing a good job.

Hank Sheinkofp calls it a good move on Murdoch's part saying that she is running for president, and it would be good to "have a friend" like Hillary in the White House.

Democratic analyst Donna Brazile says that the Clinton-Murdoch odd coupling shows that Hillary has indeed got some crossover appeal. Other mainstream Democrats feel that this will mean Hillary has the chance to put together a coalition that actually works.

However, most liberal Democrats see this as a sell-out to the corporate world, and insist that Hillary getting involved with Murdoch only strenghens Murdoch, and does nothing for either Clinton or the Democratic party.


http://www.drudgereport.com You can link the story from there. Left hand side about halfway down.

[autorank]

1. As seen on the internet

http://internationalpress.blogspot.com/
"Rupert Murdoch’s Fox News Channel is about to stun the political world. Fox will take a hard left turn in its political coverage. Long known as the first choice among right wing Republicans, Murdoch hopes the move will place Fox just ahead of the rapidly changing trends of American politics. International Press investigative reporter August Riis has worked for weeks cultivating an insider who has been with Murdoch publications from the origins in Australia through the current media empire."

[Grown2Hate]

12. Is there ANY chance that this is true? It doesn't seem to make sense,

and I've never heard of the source. Not to mention, I don't think I'd want his organization's support. I'd rather Faux News just go disappear down into the memory hole.

[autorank]

14. Looks like a spoof to me. Look at the links on the right.

That gave it away. Humor becomes hard news. Go figure.

Welcome to DU!!!

[truebrit71]

2. McCain embraces the Christian Taliban for his shot at the WH..

..and Hillary embraces Satan for hers...

Both are political whores and morally bankrupt....

[The Backlash Cometh]

3. Oh, my God.

When you have Donna Brazile spinning for you, you know you've crossed over too far.

[rniel]

4. Can you picture Sean Hannity

Water carrier for Hillary for the next 8 years. That would be a hoot.

[BobRossi]

5. Hillary = Whore

Get over it, move on.

[Vinnie From Indy]

9. Quite the wordsmith eh Bob?

eom

[RufusEarl]

6. Is this going to be one of those,

let me get elected president then see what i do type things? I mean really Murdoch! isn't he responsibly for most if not all the propaganda in this country?

Shouldn't he be tried for aid and comfort to the enemy, can someone explain this to me? I understand she's a Senator from NY, and he's from NY but this i don't understand.

[Lerkfish]

7. aside from everything else, why isn't this a conflict of interest for

Murdoch AND Clinton? Seems to me NEITHER one should be linking with the other, but they seem to be actually BRAGGING about it.

*shakes head*

[Vinnie From Indy]

8. If Donna Brazile said it's a good thing, you can be quite certain that it

is not. It is no accident that Brazile is chosen time after time to represent Democrats on the BushCo media outlets.

[IndianaGreen]

16. She is also good friends with Karl Rove

and cannot be trusted.

[jwirr]

10. And the corporate world also sees a way to nominate a sure loser

for the WH. I do not think she can win in 08. It would not be the first time that repugs back the candidate that THEY wanted to run against their candidate.

[bunny planet]

11. Exactly. This is what I think they are doing too.

Nobody wants Hillary to run more than the right wing.

[Acadia Blue]

13. Bingo!

[IndianaGreen]

15. Bill Clinton to speak at the summer conference of Murdoch's media colossus

So Rupert Murdoch is going to hold a fund raiser for Hillary. Here is Jeff Cohen's take on Bill and Hillary Clinton's strange alliance with Murdoch, which should not come as a surprise to progressives one the facts of their long term relationship comes to light:

Published on Wednesday, May 10, 2006 by CommonDreams.org

Hillary, Rupert, and the Culture of Corruption

by Jeff Cohen

It's just that top Democrats are up to their eyeballs in that same culture of corruption -- which may be why they seem blind to how activists see them. Take my New York senator, Hillary Clinton. The Financial Times just reported that she and her re-election campaign have lined up rightwing media mogul Rupert Murdoch to host a Hillary fundraiser in July.

Murdoch is the symbol of media conglomeration and the owner of Republican mouthpieces like Fox News, Weekly Standard and the New York Post. He and Hillary have lately conducted a public courtship. Last month, Hillary attended the 10th anniversary party for Fox News in Washington, where the presidential contender schmoozed Murdoch and Fox chair Roger Ailes. According to the Financial Times, Bill Clinton will address the summer conference of Murdoch's media colossus, News Corp.

It's actually quite fitting that President Clinton address News Corp, since he helped build that conglomerate -- through his Telecommunications "Reform" Act of 1996, a corrupt measure largely drafted by lobbyists for the media industry as they lavished campaign cash on politicians of both parties. The law loosened regulations constraining News Corp's growth and raised caps on how many TV stations Murdoch and others could own. Murdoch immediately bought up new stations. Clear Channel expanded from 40 radio stations to 1,200; rightwing Sinclair Broadcasting expanded from 11 TV stations to 60.

By having Murdoch host her fundraiser, Hillary Clinton seems to be signaling to Murdoch that while Democratic Party activists have mobilized in recent years against media conglomeration and policies that favor and subsidize media giants, those are not concerns of hers. What does Hillary want from Murdoch? Obviously, softer coverage from Fox and elsewhere. She certainly doesn't need his help getting funds; she raised $6 million in the first three months of 2006.

http://www.commondreams.org/views06/0510-20.htm

[Disturbed]

17. Rupert Murdoch Biography

"In an effort to expand his television interests further in the United States Rupert Murdoch became an American citizen in 1985. ..."

http://www.woopidoo.com/biography/rupert-murdoch.htm

[howmad1]

19. Damn right, Clinton built NewsCorp.

If only he would have kept his putz in his pants, NewsCorp would have had nothing to report. If only Clinton would have kept his putz in his pants, what a different country this would be. If only he would have kept his putz in his pants, Al gore would be choosing the next Dem president to run this country for the next 8 years. If only he would have kept his putz in his pants, 3000 Ameriican soldiers and 100,000 Iraqis would still be alive. I coould go on and on but why bother. God, how I hate Clinton for not keeping his putz in his pants. I hate Hillary as much for her ego, thinking she can win in 2008. She's nuts!

[IndianaGreen]

22. Clinton's Telecommunications Act

THE TELECOMMUNICATIONS ACT:
CONSUMERS STILL WAITING FOR BETTER PHONE & CABLE SERVICES
ON THE SIXTH ANNIVERSARY OF NATIONAL LAW

AN UPDATE BY CONSUMERS UNION AND CONSUMER FEDERATION OF AMERICA

February 8 marks the sixth anniversary of a national law that promised consumers lower prices and more choices in cable television, long-distance, and local telephone services.

The 1996 Telecommunications Act was touted as the beginning of a new era of competition and better service. Cable and telephone industry CEOs promised Congress that their companies would enter each other's markets and compete against one other if the government would relax regulations. Lawmakers agreed to deregulation based on these promises and the belief that the resulting competition would remove the need for public oversight.

Congress approved the Telecommunications Act by an overwhelming margin. President Clinton signed the law at an elaborate ceremony on February 8, 1996. The invited guests included Clinton's chief political rival at the time, then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich. Clinton and Gingrich took turns heaping praise on the law and the bipartisan group of lawmakers who voted for it. One speaker after another predicted that the law would transform the telecommunications industry in extraordinary ways to benefit consumers.(1)

Now, six years later, consumers are left wondering, "Where is all the competition?" The vast majority of Americans continue to have only one choice of cable company and phone company. Bills are more expensive and harder to understand. Advertisements for "cheap" long-distance plans hide the monthly fees that erase the supposed savings for many consumers. Complaints about service problems continue to stack up.(2)

The Telecommunications Act was based on a faulty premise. It called for the deregulation of the telecommunications industry before competition existed or competitive forces had developed. It was based on the naive assumption that firms wanted to enter each other's markets and compete. Relaxing the government oversight of cable and phone monopolies has allowed them to merge, consolidate their control of core markets, and begin to expand their monopoly power into adjacent markets.

The following is an overview of how consumers have been shortchanged by the Telecommunications Act over the past six years. (more...)

http://www.consumersunion.org/telecom/sixthdc202.htm

[MsMagnificent]

18. We all KNOW Bill is advising her...

...so, to repeat a well-used phrase

What's up with that??

For the life of me I can't see why Mr. Politically Astute is 'letting' (allowing, advising, insert your term of choice here) Hillary to make these humongous mistakes.

Or has Bill gone over to The Dark Side?
(LOL No, not Repug or Conservative but DLC : )

[Clarkie1]

20. she's been bought. n/t

[rhombus]

21. She's been with the sharks a long time

I'm suprised people here are suprised.